How long does it take to get the controls down?

I'm playing this game on the PS3 for the first time and I'm doing so before I start the second one. The controls can't be customized and the button layout for the PS3 controller too well thought through. How long does it take to fully get the counter and battle system down? I just finished the sate where you get the gauntlets that allow you to brake the ice and I'm still just hacking away without any true understanding of the combat system.

The combat system is similar to the one in the God of War series. It's really not complex. You have your main weapon, Choaseater, and two secondaries, a scythe that you can buy and the gauntlets. Each of these has their own unique combos that you can buy, all of them are really simple to pull off. You also have various gadgets that you find in dungeons such as a boomerang type weapon, a portal gun, and a hookshot You also have your Wrath abilities, which are like magic attacks. The first one is automatically unlocked, but you can buy three others. These do things like causing blades to shoot out of the ground around War in a small radius or greatly increasing his defense. You also have the ability to transform into War's "true form", which makes him invincible and causes him to do massive damage for a very short time. You can block be standing still and pressing R1. If you time your block correctly, you will counter the attack. By pressing R1 and the moving the thumbstick in any direction, you will dodge in that direction. The game's combat system is extremely simple and it shouldn't take you more than an hour to get the hang of it. You won't be finding a combat system as complex, as say Devil May Cry, in Darksiders.